August board meeting<\/a><\/span>, where the suspension was announced, board members said the halting of the loan program was to encourage\u00a0members of the 31st Legislature to adopt a measure aimed at saving GERS, which is projected to become insolvent in less than ten years. Back then, board members described the suspension as temporary, but warned that if a solution wasn’t found to address solvency problems, they would be left with no other solution but to permanently end the program.<\/p>\n\u201cThis measure was taken to immediately address the liquidity issues affecting the System in order to ensure the availability of liquid funds to pay benefits, as well as to ensure the survivability of the System,\u201d GERS said via press release.<\/p>\n
GERS officials testified before the Senate during a succession of hearings that were held on each of the territory’s three islands. There, GERS officials said $600 million was needed to save the system; currently an insurmountable amount of funds for the Government of the Virgin Islands, as\u00a0expending that amount on only one government-owned entity would severely hurt every other branch of government \u2014 including essential services indelible to the daily operations of the territory. According to Finance Commissioner Vladimir Collens, the territory\u2019s borrowing limit \u2014 which includes the value of all assessed property \u2014 stood about $400 million in September.<\/p>\n
The Senate did, however, take action on a GERS bill, but the measure remains a far cry from what the pension system\u2019s officials requested. And not all senators supported the measure.<\/p>\n
Sen. Tregenza Roach, who has expressed frustration in the manner in which the legislation was being hustled through the body, opposed bill no.\u00a031-0146.<\/p>\n
Mr. Roach said he could not support the measure for many reasons, the chief of them being the fact that the bill did not include the $600 million that GERS officials said was needed to salvage the broken pension system, and that the measure attempts to save GERS on the backs of Tier II participants \u2014 or government employees who have recently served ten years or more in government.<\/p>\n
And Senators Kenneth Gittens and Kurt Vialet wrote letters to GERS asking that it restart the loan program. But their efforts did not affect the board’s decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my letter to the board chairman, Dr. Wilbur Callender, I requested a copy of the Board correspondences resulting in the decision to suspend and later discontinue the loan program. While their concerns could be legitimate, I see the abrupt suspension and permanent discontinuation of the program to be drastic and unfair,\u201d Mr. Gittens said in a press release issued on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The senator pleaded with the GERS board to reconsider its decision and suggested that in the alternative, they consider a reduction of the loan amount available for members to borrow with an annual cap. Mr. Gittens said maybe even an increase in the interest rates or processing fees may be applicable, but the abrupt discontinuation of the program without an alternative is causing hardship for the members.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is no secret that the economic state of our territory is weak. This accessibility to funds for active government employees and retirees is of paramount importance to sustain a constant cash flow to the territory. What it also means is allowing the members a means of accomplishing their financial obligations with monies they should always have access to,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
The senator said re-instituting the loan program can be a win-win situation for all because it would mean a revenue stream for the System through interest rate collections and it would mean members would once again be able to access cash to address immediate financial needs and or unforeseen emergencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our territory, our system and our people. We should always take the time out to consider decisions that would ultimately impact us and our economy, and matters should be worked out in the best interest of all parties involved,\u201d Mr. Gittens concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ST. CROIX — Dismissing calls by senators and residents to reinstate its popular loan program, the Government Employees’ Retirement System’s board moved on Thursday at its monthly meeting to “indefinitely” suspend the program. The language change from “temporary” to “indefinite” came after the board unanimously approved a motion to do so. And the board’s administrator,\u00a0Austin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,191,2474,147],"tags":[636,3023],"yoast_head":"\n
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I've been the Editor-In-Chief at my videogames website, Gamesthirst, for over 5 years, writing over 7,000 articles and more than 2 million words. I'm also very passionate about where I live, the United States Virgin Islands, and I'm intent on making it a better place by being resourceful and keeping our leaders honest. VI Consortium was birthed out of said desire, hopefully my efforts bear fruit. Reach me at ernice@viconsortium.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/ernicegilbert.com\/\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"GERS Moves To 'Indefinitely' Suspend Loan Program - V.I. Consortium","description":"GERS -- ST. 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